Brynien: ‘Maybe’ shut down over Tier VI

The Public Employees Federation has joined the campaign by labor unions opposing a proposed new pension tier, and the organization’s leader Sunday evening suggested it should be a line in the sand for legislators considering Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed budget.

“They should not allow this to be in the budget. There are a number of other things, too, but this is a universal thing. It’s not just our members, it’s all public workers. The governor used the phrase, ‘Why are you protecting the unborn?’ Well the unborn are my kids and my grandkids if they ever want to go into public service. They should at least be able to retire with the same benefits I have,” Brynien told me at the cocktail reception before Caucus dinner. “If the governor’s going to put something in the budget that’s unreasonable, maybe it should be shut down. I think eventually, rational people will see that some things just go too far, and they won’t allow government to be shut, or if they shut it down it will be shut for two days and then it’ll come back up because people will say, there’s a line that we’ve crossed that maybe we shouldn’t. I remember when Washington got shut down too, and that wasn’t good, but it came back. People saw that they couldn’t let this continue, and made whatever changes needed to be made.”

Cuomo’s budget proposal would offer newly hired workers the option of enrolling in a defined-contribution plan, similar to a 401(k), or the defined-benefit plans that are now offered to public employees. The new defined-benefit tier would require the new employees to contribute more of their income than earlier options, and lengthen the time it takes to vest.

Brynien and other labor leaders argued defined-contribution plans threaten the economic security of public retirees — if they don’t save enough money, they won’t be able to stay in New York, contribute to its economy, and the effects of the plan would “snowball.” Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, a Democrat, has expressed similar sentiments.

Cuomo, backed by business groups and local government coalitions, says the cost to the state to support a burgeoning number of retirees is “unsustainable.”